1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to an automotive seat track assembly for providing incremental fore and aft seat adjustment and having a seat dumping mechanism for providing additional seat track travel as well as a single point full rear memory.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automotive vehicles include seat assemblies for supporting a seated occupant in the vehicle. The seat assemblies typically include a seat cushion and a seat back pivotally connected to the seat cushion by a recliner mechanism for allowing pivotal adjustment of the seat back relative to the seat cushion between a plurality of reclined positions. Further, seat assemblies typically include a track assembly for providing incremental fore and aft sliding adjustment of the seat assembly in the vehicle within a predetermined comfort range of seating positions defined by the track assembly, such as between a full forward and full rearward position.
It is commonly known for the recliner mechanism and track assembly to allow the seat assembly to be dumped forward to a forwardly extended dumped position extending beyond, or forward of the comfort range, i.e. forward of the full forward position, in order to facilitate access to an area behind the seat assembly within the vehicle. Additionally, some track assemblies known in the art allow the seat assembly to return from the forwardly extended dumped position to the full forward position or full rearward position. More complex and expensive track assemblies even allow the seat to be returned to the original seating position. Such track assemblies are often referred to as having seat track memory.
It remains desirable to provide a simple, inexpensive and reliable seat track assembly which allows the seat assembly to be dumped forward and extended to a forwardly extended position, extending beyond the full forward seating position within the comfort range, and returned to a predetermined single point memory position within the comfort range.
The invention relates to a seat track assembly comprising a lower track member and an upper track member movably mounted to the lower track member. A rotating cam is mounted to the upper track member and a flange is mounted to the upper track member and extending outwardly therefrom. A pawl is pivotally mounted to the flange for selectively engaging the cam and for interlocking the cam and selectively releasing the cam to provide a memory feature for the seat track assembly.